1. Technical Field
This disclosure relates generally to surgical needles and, more particularly, to a surgical suturing needle having a channel-shaped body portion.
2. Description of Related Art
Surgical suturing needles are available in numerous types and sizes depending on the intended use or application. Surgical incision members are a type of surgical grade needle designed for use with surgical suturing instrumentation. Surgical incision members have points formed at either end and, preferably, a length of suture material attached intermediate the points. Typically, surgical incision members have a substantially uniform round cross-section, although other solid bodied cross-sections may be provided. Apparatus engagement structure may also be formed in a body portion of the surgical incision member to facilitate its use with a suitable surgical suturing apparatus. As used herein, the terms "surgical needle" and "surgical incision member" refer to fully formed surgical grade needles ready for suture attachment and use in surgical procedures. Further, as used herein, the term "needle blank" refers to a piece of needle stock at various stages of completion but not filly formed into a surgical grade needle or surgical incision member suitable for use during surgical procedures.
Solid bodied surgical incision members are disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 08/260,579, filed Jun. 16, 1994 entitled SURGICAL INCISION MEMBERS; and 29/024,594, filed Jun. 16, 1994 entitled SURGICAL INCISION MEMBER, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein. Suitable apparatus for manipulation of surgical needles and surgical incision members are disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 06/954,013 filed Sep. 30, 1992 entitled SUTURING APPARATUS; 08/134,145 filed Oct. 8, 1993 entitled SURGICAL SUTURING APPARATUS WITH LOADING MECHANISM; 08/319,703 filed Oct. 7, 1994 entitled VASCULAR SUTURING APPARATUS; and 08/319,840 filed Oct. 7, 1994 entitled ENDOSCOPIC VASCULAR SUTURING APPARATUS.
During surgical procedures it is often necessary to join or rejoin tissue or vessels to form an anastomosis. Various methods of joining tissue or vascular tissues to create an anastomosis are used, such as, for example, suturing, stapling or clipping the tissue together. The anastomosis of vascular tissue involves particularly delicate and precise suturing in order to insure a secure and fluid tight seal. Given the very small size of typical vascular tissue, accurate and precise suturing on a small scale is imperative. Working in a highly magnified field, the surgeon uses a very small suturing needle having a length of suture material attached thereto to suture the vessels together. The suturing needle is typically grasped by a needle holder and passed through one vessel and then the opposite vessel. The procedure is repeated to thread or impart a series of stitches to the vessels to suture them together. Because of the extremely small size of the suturing needle used, typically on the order of ten thousands of an inch in diameter, and the highly magnified field, handling problems may arise while manipulating the suturing needle through the vascular tissues. Drawing the needle and suture through a vessel requires the controlled and accurate release and acquisition of the needle and suture during the procedure. Precise control of the needle is often difficult when using typical needle holders. Thus surgical suturing apparatus which manipulate either surgical needles or surgical incision members are particularly useful in vascular surgery. They can provide accurate and reliable transfer of the needles or incision members through vascular tissue, particularly in small operating fields.
Care must be taken to ensure only a minimal puncture is performed and that the tissue is not damaged as the suture is drawn through. Round punctures in vascular tissues can take longer to heal than a non-circular incision or cut. Further, when using round-bodied surgical needles, the size of the needle and suture should be carefully matched to ensure the suture does not tear tissue and to prevent fluid leakage from the vessel. Accordingly, a need exists for a surgical needle and/or surgical incision member which penetrates tissue in a less traumatic manner than a conventional needle. It would be desirable to make a more incision-like penetration of the tissue to facilitate healing.
Surgical needles and/or surgical incision members typically require several processes to form the finished product. These processes may include curving and cutting needle stock to form needle blanks, altering or refining the tip configurations and curvature radius, punching or drilling the blank to form a suture hole and/or notching the blank to provide engaging structure for cooperative instrumentation.
Due to the complexity of forming round-bodied surgical needles and surgical incision members, the manufacture of surgical incision members may become complicated and costly. For example, one commonly used method of manufacturing a round-bodied surgical incision member is by a process called metal injection molding or "MIM". The MIM manufacturing process tends to be costly and thus may adversely affect the otherwise desirable characteristics and traits of a surgical suturing apparatus utilizing surgical incision members.
It would be desirable to have a surgical suturing needle or incision member which can be produced with reduced cost and effort. It also would be desirable to have a vascular surgical suturing needle which is particularly suited to microscopic suturing of vascular tissues and which is capable of penetrating, and drawing a suture through, vascular tissue sections with minimal trauma to the tissue. It would also be desirable to have an inexpensive surgical suturing needle or surgical incision member which is easily handled by a surgical suturing apparatus.